PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins fell in the shootout, 4-3, to the Providence Bruins on Friday night at Amica Mutual Pavilion.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (20-19-2-4) turned in a perfect performance on special teams and received a stunning, 30-save effort from goalie Taylor Gauthier. However, Providence tied the game late in regulation and then squeaked out the extra point by emerging victorious in a seven-round shootout.
Gauthier and Bruins goalie Kyle Keyser traded strong saves throughout the first period, keeping the game knotted at 0-0. Providence scored early in the middle frame, as Fabian Lysell drew first blood at 1:50.
Tyler Sikura put the Penguins on the board with a power-play goal at 9:37 of the second period, then he helped set up a go-ahead goal by Jon Lizotte three minutes later.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton notched another man-advantage marker at 15:27 of the second stanza. This time, Valtteri Puustinen unleashed a one-timer through Keyser to put the Penguins ahead, 3-1. Gerogii Merkulov responded with a breakaway goal less than a minute later, pulling the P-Bruins within one.
Providence pulled its goalie for an extra attacker late in regulation, resulting in a tying goal. Merkulov struck again with 93 seconds left in the third period to force OT.
Overtime was a back-and-forth affair with both clubs earning great scoring chances, but no one found the back of the net during the five-minute, three-on-three session.
Rookies Lukas Svejkovsky and Fabian Lysell traded goals in the second round of the shootout, but it wasn’t until the bottom of the seventh round that Mike Reilly delivered the dagger for Providence.
The Penguins went two-for-two on the power play and two-for-two on the penalty kill in regulation. Both Gauthier and Keyser recorded 30 saves in regulation and OT, but Keyser turned away six of seven shootout attempts to land the win.
Don’t Miss the Next Penguins Game!
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Providence will face-off again tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 11, on the Penguins’ home ice. Puck drop for the Penguins and P-Bruins is 6:05 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
Individual game tickets and season-ticket packages for the 2022-23 season are on sale now. Full-Season, 22-game, 12-game, Flexbook and Premium Seating plans are available by reaching out to the Penguins directly at (570) 208-7367.
